Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates more than 240,000 new cases of lung cancer will occur, and more than 140,000 deaths will be attributed to lung cancer, in 2012. Lung cancer is categorized as either non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) or small cell lung carcinoma, with NSCLC representing more than 80% of cases.
Current treatments for lung cancer include surgery, radiation, classical chemotherapeutic agents (platinum compounds, taxanes), and targeted therapies (inhibitors of VEGFR, EGFR, IGFR, HDACS, and the proteasome). However, despite advances in treatment, five-year survival rates are about 16%. Numerous clinical trials evaluating classical chemotherapy drugs for lung cancer indicate that a therapeutic plateau with current drugs may have been reached. Therefore, there is a need for new drugs for the treatment of lung cancer that have different mechanisms of action.